The US appeal at the United Nations for "full enforcement" of sanctions against North Korea underscored the difficulty of attaining real progress on denuclearisation, more than a month after the much-vaunted Donald Trump-Kim Jong Un summit.
In their joint declaration after the historic meeting on June 12 in Singapore, the North Korean leader "reaffirmed his commitment" to the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula." But the actual details of the process, including how and by what timetable the North's nuclear programme is to be dismantled, have yet to be negotiated.
At the time, the US administration insisted on the "urgency" of denuclearisation, which was supposed to begin "very quickly."
"We have no time limit," Trump told reporters on Wednesday. "We have no speed limit."
Asked about the change in tone, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert sought to reassure: "We have teams in place that are working very hard on this issue every day." "We have said there's a lot of work left to be done."
Even the North's return to the US of the remains of American soldiers killed in the Korean War (1950-53), described as "immediate" on June 12, appears more complicated -- with Pompeo now saying it may take place in "the next couple of weeks."
"Not only are they not giving up their nuclear weapons programme," she continued, "they've been working overtime on advancing their programme."